Across Our Little Lives
by maddieponine
Summary: Across The Universe AU. Eponine is a Vietnamese political refugee during the Vietnam war. Enjolras is a shielded suburban boy, who became active in peace protests after his family and friends have been affected by the war.
1. all my loving

**Chapter I. All My Loving**

_And then while I'm away_

_I'll write home every day_

_And I'll send all my loving to you_

_All my loving, I will send to you_

_All my loving, darling I'll be true_

_(All My Loving)_

* * *

**Bedford, NY. 1963.**

"I don't get it Grantaire." Enjolras sprawled out on the bed with hands behind his neck. "For as long as we've known each other, you have never once believed in anything. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love you…"

"Oh do you?" Grantaire looked up from the shirt he was folding and arched an eyebrow.

"You know I do." The young blond looked at the sulky brunette, his stare serious and concerned. "And now you tell me you volunteered to join in the war?"

"Figured for once I'd do something worthy of my time." Grantaire put the folded shirt into the suitcase before snapping it close.

"But I don't want you to die." Enjolras folded his arms. "When will you be back?"

"It's just gonna be for a couple of months and I'll be back. I promise." Grantaire slid in next to Enjolras. Their fingers entwined as Enjolras put his head on Grantaire's shoulder.

"I still don't understand why you have to do this." Enjolras sighed.

"I just…" Grantaire pondered. "All my life Enjolras, I have been a good for nothing. It's clear that my parents are never letting me pursue art school. So I say, why bother going to college. At least I can fight honorably and when I get back, maybe they'll think twice about sending me to Harvard law."

"That's a stupid reason to volunteer."

"At least I'll feel proud of who I am for once."

"I'll always be proud of you." Enjolras murmured. "Promise to write?"

"Every day."

* * *

**Saigon, South Vietnam. November 2 1963.**

"Wake up, Éponine. Wake up. Wake. Up!"

Éponine opened her heavy eyelids, her head clouded by sleep. She lifted her head from the feather pillow.

"Mum?" Éponine asked, while looking over to the bracket clock on the bedside drawer. The clock said 2 a.m. "What's the matter?"

"You have to go now Éponine." Her mom whispered to her urgently. "I packed your clothes and your paper. There's a car waiting for you outside. Get on that car, the driver will drive you to the airport. Then he will lead you to a small plane. It's not safe to be here anymore. You have to go."

"But why?"

"President Diem and his brother have just been murdered. The government has been upthrown. You know your father has been heavily involved with the Ngo Dinh Diem family. It'll only be a matter of time before they come here and execute us all."

Éponine quickly got up and threw on the daytime dress lying near her bed. She jumped into the car with her mother, carrying a small suitcase that her mother hastily prepared for her. She noticed that the driver especially avoided main streets, instead chose to drive on roads that led outside the city.

"So what now?" Éponine asked, confused. She opened the outside pocket of the suitcase and found her passport with a bunch of papers she did not recognize nor understand. Inside her passport was a picture of her face, however with a different name plastered under it. Perhaps it was to ensure her security.

"Éponine Jondrette." She whispered. Jon. Drette. Each syllable felt funny on her tongue as she pronounced them for the first time. "Strange last name you've got me there Mom."

"I want you to listen to me, you're Jondrette now." Her mother looked her in the eyes, and Éponine understood that from now on, she would only be remembered by her new name. She did not like this new change, it sounded odd when her own mother called her with a strange name like that, but she guess she'd have to accept. "You are extremely lucky that your father is such an important man. Henry Lodge has agreed to take you to America and take guardianship of you there. You will stay there as a political refugee, until this war is over and you can safely return home. You behave yourself and be a good girl, you hear me Éponine? Don't do anything to make them send you home."

"But what about you and Dad?" she furrowed her brows. What is going on? What is all this talk about politic? Éponine Thenardier, apparently now Éponine Jondrette knew nothing. Yesterday morning she was still a schoolgirl, eating ice cream and gossiping with her classmates in the front yard. She might be the daughter of the commander-in-chief of Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces, as fancy as it might sound, but Éponine had kept herself intact with her dad's job. They didn't talk about it during dinner – the only time of the day she could see dad – and she specifically did not want to talk about anything politic-related.

"They will keep Dad alive to extract information from him." The way her mom said extract stirred up an uneasy feeling in Éponine's stomach, but she kept her mouth shut. "As for me, I'm only a woman. I'm his stupid wife. I'll just deny everything and hopefully they wouldn't do anything to me."

"Why can't you come along Mom?" Éponine's voice began to fill with panic. What was she going to do in a country half a globe away? Her mom could not be serious.

"They have filled their quota." Her mom smiled sadly. "I have been fighting to get a spot for you for months. It's extremely hard to get a seat on that plane, and I don't want to waste it on an old woman like me."

The car stopped and her mom pushed her out of the car. Two armed soldiers grabbed her arms and led her towards a small plane parking nearby. She turned around and called out her mom's name, urging her mom to come with her, she did not understand, why couldn't her mom come along, she was sure it wouldn't be too much of a hassle. The men kept pushing her violently like she was a prisoner, and Éponine had to restrain herself from elbowing one of them. Her mom just stood there with tears in her eyes, she did not move an inch. Every fiber of Éponine screamed out in protest, to break out from the men's grasp and to run back to her mom, but she knew her mom would scold her if she were to do that.

"Be safe, and take care of yourself Éponine." Her mom yelled out when Éponine was climbing the staircase. "I love you."

Before she could reply, Éponine was abruptly pushed inside the plane. The two armed men shut the door and she stumbled in clumsily.

"I love you too Mom." Éponine whispered as she settled down on a seat near the window. She could taste the salty water running down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying little girl?" said a heavy-weighted white man sitting next to her on the plane. "You're going to America, you'll be safe there. Besides it's better in America than here anyway."

He lowered his voice. "I know who you are. Your dad sacrificed a lot for you to be on this plane tonight. Be strong for him, okay?"

She nodded and managed to wipe her worst part was, somehow, deep inside, she knew this would be the last time for her to be home. Éponine closed her eyes and made a cross with her fingers.

_Nothing's gonna change my world, _she sang quietly. _Nothing's gonna change my world._


	2. with a little help from my friends

**Chapter ii. with a little help from my friends.**

_do you need anybody?_

_i need somebody to love_

_could it be anybody?_

_i just want someone to love_

_(with a little help from my friends)_

* * *

It'd been a month since Éponine set foot in this new, strange land. Thankfully, she had gone to an international high school back home so she had had no trouble communicating here, and people were rather astounded at how fluent at English she was. Since Éponine had just passed her 18th birthday, it was unnecessary to get her a family host. Henry Lodge placed her at Princeton University, claiming the diverse and bustling environment would do her good, but she knew it was easier to put an eye on her here. It was near the end of the fall semester, and Éponine was given a single room in the international students hall, a privilege that apparently, many of the Americans envied.

"You'd register for classes next semester like a regular freshman, so you should start thinking about what you want to study." Said Lodge hastily while she was unpacking her small suitcase. "There's no reason for you to cease your education only because you moved here."

He stopped and looked around the modest room. There was a bed with a white pillow and boring beige linen, a desk with an attached bookshelf. The room smelled of Febreeze, and there was a yellow stain on the wall. Éponine looked up to him, and she knew he was waiting for her to speak.

"Thank you Mr. Lodge, I am deeply grateful." She spoke with a slightly throaty accent. "I shall do my best to settle in here."

She knew that was he wanted her to say.

"Don't cause any trouble."

"I won't." she shook her head. "Whom should I contact if I want to hear news about my parents?" she asked when he was halfway out the door.

"Frankly Éponine, I think you'd be better off not asking about it." He turned around and looked at her. "Let's just start a new life here, will you?"

At that moment she understood, that her duty here was to behave, to forget that her former life ever existed, keep quiet and lay low. She knew once she had departed, she couldn't return. Éponine hated that they expected her to obey them like a loyal puppy, but what else could she do? She did not have much choice.

Éponine was granted a job on campus with a pathetic salary just above minimum wage, but she was grateful she was economically independent. She worked in the basement of the science building in the chemistry stockroom. Every day she pushed the cart full of glassware with substances to the lab and cleaned them when the students were done. With her job she got an I.D. card, which she used to swipe into the dining hall. When dinner was over she retreated back into her room, full of books she had borrowed from the library to keep her mind occupied and not run wild with imaginary scenes of what might happen to her parents back home. She did not care too much about her father; it was mother she was worrying about. Days passed, and though she tried her hardest, no news about the erupting war was delivered anywhere. Éponine was alone without an ally, or a friend who could tell her what was going on. After a span of two weeks, she stopped trying, knowing there was nothing she could do.

One evening, Éponine just existed the basement when she noticed noises approaching her. She looked up and saw a blond student running towards her. Behind him were several other students, frantically running away from the men chasing them. When he landed on the ground where she was standing, he looked at her with pleading eyes. Without thinking, Éponine opened the basement door for him and together they ran inside along the narrow exit hall, laughing.

* * *

"Bet you five bucks it will hit the window." Courfeyrac said to Feuilly, positioning himself behind the golf ball. He took a swing and watched as the ball made a beautiful imaginary parabolic path into the air, as it fell down, down, down, down until there was a tinkling sound of broken glass, followed by a hoarse voice telling them they'd be in big trouble.

"Oh yeah?" Courfeyrac shouted into the air. "Come and get me."

Seconds later there was the distinctive sound of door opening and loud swearing.

"Oh shit!" cursed Courfeyrac, and away they ran. Courfeyrac took a cut across the lawn towards the science building and jumped down on the basement exit. Standing at the door was a small East Asian girl and she let him in without questioning. While the girl was regaining her breath, as she obviously wasn't used to running, Courfeyrac introduced himself.

"I'm Courfeyrac. What's your name?"

"Call me Éponine."

"Éponine, thank you so much. I was so sure he was gonna grill my ass."

"You're very welcome."

"What's with the accent, if you don't mind me asking? Where are you from?"

She hesitated for a bit, but answered anyway.

"Saigon, Vietnam. It's in the south." She added when she saw his jaw dropped.

"Holy shit. Isn't a war going on over there?"

"I wish there wasn't." Éponine whispered.

"So…so what are you doing here Éponine?"

"To be honest, I don't know." She shook her head. "I just got here three weeks ago because our president was assassinated and my mom said it wasn't safe there anymore."

He saw her face becoming more solemn and knew that he just touched upon a sensitive subject. Courfeyrac decided that he liked her, very much indeed, so he tried to cheer her up.

"Do you want to go get some beer with me and my guys?" He offered. "It's a Saturday night. I'll cover your drinks. Come on, you can't resist free beer."

Éponine was quiet, as though she was considering options. Courfeyrac watched her eyebrows furrow and patiently waited for an answer.

"It's not like I have other plans." She answered after a century of thinking. Courfeyrac grinned and took her hand, leading her away from the basement.

"Come on!"

* * *

"That. Was. Crazy." Éponine exhaled and fell on the couch in the lounge. Courfeyrac and his friends followed her, each fell asleep right away on their spot.

It had been the craziest night of her life. She went to a pub with Courfeyrac and his friends, drank beer, played billiards and watched him flirt with the waitress there. The pub was crowded, noisy and full of smoke but Éponine didn't mind as she was having so much fun. She had her first joint in the lounge of Courfeyrac's hall, which made her head spin and her stomach growl and joined him and his friends for a song as they tore down the hallways. Now she was lying on the couch, Courfeyrac dead asleep on the ground next to her.

"Éponine." He asked, his voice hoarse and sleepy. "I was thinking, since you don't have a family here, would you like to stay with me for winter break and celebrate Christmas with my family?"

"You just met me." She replied.

"Exactly." He smiled.

Éponine thought about what Lodge would say to her.

"I would love to." She smiled.

* * *

Enjolras threw his backpack on the table in the dining room. His mom poked her head from the kitchen.

"Enjolras, you have a letter. It's from Grantaire."

The word "Grantaire" was like a shot of caffeine to his droopy mind. Enjolras rushed to the kitchen and almost tore the letter away from his mother's hand. She smiled and turned back to chopping onions. She knew her youngest son was different, and that his relationship with Grantaire was far from pure platonic but she didn't care. As long as her children were happy, she was happy too.

"When does Courfeyrac get back from college?" Enjolras wandered into the kitchen after he was done reading the letter, obviously tremendously satisfied and cheerful. He picked up a piece of bread and began spreading butter on it.

"Tomorrow. He just called me last night, saying he'd bring back a girl for Christmas. One of his friends. Apparently she's Vietnamese. Can you believe that?"

"The shit that Courfeyrac does." Enjolras commented.

"Language." She gently scolded him. "I can't wait for Courf to get home. It's been really lonely and quiet without him here."

"Jeez, thanks mom. I feel really appreciated now."

She shot him a look. "Why don't you go upstairs and frame Grantaire's letter, put it up the wall like I know you would."

"Don't mind if I do." He kissed his mom's cheek and strolled out of the kitchen, humming a tune that she didn't recognize. Kids these days, she shook her head.


End file.
